February
17, 2019
6th
Sunday after Epiphany
Please
pray with me,
May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in
your sight, O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
When
I was working at Camp Calumet, the Lutheran camp in the New England Synod, I
had a wide range of learning opportunities as I spent 10 summers as a
counselor, and staff member.
Yet,
one of the memories that I go back to time and time again is this one.
I’m
not sure what day it was, but it was a sunny one.
I
was sitting on the front step of my cabin, no doubt taking in the view of the
lake as the two buddies of mine and the Executive Director of the camp walked
by with buckets, a hose some gloves and other random cleaning supplies.
“Want
to come with us?” they asked.
“Sure,”
I said.
As
we walked toward the family camping beach, I asked what we were up to…I said
we, because clearly I was now part of this activity.
They
shared that during the night someone had knocked over the port-a-potties and we
were headed over to clean them up.
Oh
boy, I thought. This is one of those
times when you think back to the contract you signed at the beginning of the summer
and in addition to your specific job description, there is a line that says,
“and other duties as assigned.”
Pardon
the pun, but this was one of those other ‘duties.’ (Ha!)
But
seriously, I was invited to help out with this clean up job…and while
thankfully, I don’t remember much of the cleaning process…I must have erased
that from my memory, I do remember that I was working side-by-side the
executive director of the camp.
I’m
sure, he could have walked up to a number of folks and asked them to do this
job and continue the work he was busy doing, but he did not delegate.
He
was there, in the muck…doing what needed to be done, for the sake of a
beautiful camp, a clean property and by making a huge impact while he did.
In
our gospel lesson for today, we hear at the beginning that Jesus came
down.
This
isn’t the sermon on the mount where Jesus’ location is above the others. While that location helped him to be seen and
hopefully heard, that is not where he is in today’s reading.
Today
our lesson is the sermon on the plain. He is preaching to a great crowd and a
great multitude of people. Preaching in
and among the people must have been a different experience.
The
people around him, no doubt had to strain their ears, lean their heads and try
to get a glimpse of this teacher.
Yet,
Jesus’ presence in and among the people, sheds more light on the words he speaks.
Blessed
are you…who are poor, who are hungry, who weep, or when people hate you…
When
we hear the world blessed we think of it as something given to us by God maybe
based on merit?
But
perhaps a better definition would be satisfied, unburdened or at peace….
So
be at peace…be satisfied….not be happy or joyous, but be at peace, in the place
in which you find yourselves, because God is with you in these moments.
And
here, Jesus demonstrates this by being in and among this throng of people
reaching in to be touched and healed.
The
Greek word for woe…comes in some sense of a warning…it’s a call to
repentance…just a reminder, Jesus says, that getting caught up in the comforts,
of the world around you thinking that all your needs are met…look around…look
out, Jesus says…where you think you have security…in wealth, in happiness…you
think things are going fine….
But
Jesus says, what if these are allusions, what if these are the things that keep
you from seeing God at work in your world, in your life…in your heart.
Where are you putting your trust, Jesus challenges the crowds.
Where
do we put our trust?
Is
it in the things that surround us? In
our wealth? In our possessions? In what we think our happiness is?
We
are so often trapped by these things that we think feed our souls, minds and
bodies.
Yet,
the blessings of God come upon us, come among us when we don’t even realize
it. When we are trusting in God, not worrying
about how we try to meet our own needs, then we see God’s blessings.
And
so I really think there is something to be said, for Jesus speaking these words
in and among the people.
He
comes down…he is face to face, body to body, with the people in deepest need in
the world around him.
He
is walking among the sick, the poor, the hurt, those with unclean spirits,
those with the deep desired to be touched and healed.
In
Jesus, God comes down to earth, he suffers and dies.
He
does all this for each and every one of us, before we were even here….
God
frees us from sin and death, through the resurrection of Jesus, so that we are
free to love and serve others.
God
came down to save us. God came down in
Jesus Christ to open scriptures to us, to love us, to teach us, and to empower,
strengthen us and prepare us for service for our neighbors.
God
has given each of us the gifts and skills we need to offer compassion, love and
support to others in times of need.
It
isn’t up to just me (up in this pulpit) to provide those in need with words of
comfort and hope…it is God who does that, through the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. It is the company of all
the saints that offer strength, love and support to others.
In
this place, among you all…the people of God…we walk this journey together.
Look
around…we are all together in this place.
The
place has been leveled.
We
are all welcomed into this place, as the body of Christ, as members of God’s
family.
We
come clamoring in to be touched, healed, forgiven, saved…
We
come to this place, in the company of one another…shoulder to shoulder…no
better or worse than any other…knowing that the love and grace of God will
reach us, will teach us, will heal us, will save us.
This
is the plain on which Jesus preaches, teaches, loves and saves.
This
is the plain on which we are healed, transformed, blessed and sent to walk side-by-side
with Jesus and with one another…in a response to love and serve all those who
surround us.
(At each service the sermon ended a little differently, but the gist was this...if you are feeling low down, Jesus reaches our a hand and brings you up onto the plain. If you are feeling better than ever before, Jesus invites you to come down to the plain. Because wherever you find yourself, Jesus will invite you into this place. It is into this place, where we gather shoulder to shoulder with people who have very different opinions of .... the color of the carpet.... not to mention lots of other things, but this place is where we come together, in spite of our differences to be gifted with the presence of God. All we do, is put one foot in front of the other, open up our hands and receive this amazing gift of God in bread and wine. This is the plain on which Jesus is and invites us to be with him here.)
And
may the peace, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus and let all God’s people say, amen.
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